How to Get Digital Signature Certificate?

What is Digital Signature Certification & Why Do You Need It?

Digital Signatures are cryptically obtained documents and messages that are digitally signed. In India, they are being used for various purposes at present as legal tenders. They assure that the message or document has not been manipulated before receipt and verify the authenticity of the sender. They are like SSL or the secure socket layers used for hypertext transmission in websites and blogs. The message or data input is transmitted after it is made cryptic. Such transmissions when breached are useless as the hacker cannot decipher the messages.

DSC for short is legal in India, and is provided by the certifying authorities or CA a company or an organization authorized by CCA The regulations are governed by Article 24 under the IT Act 2004. The department falls under the aegis of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in India.

Digital Signatures are not like e-signatures since the latter is not made undecipherable. The e-signatures are imprinted on electronic documents using software and they appear like the ones we sign manually on paper. In the case of DSC short for digital signature certificates, the cryptic or human unreadable version is created. Electronic documents or messages undergo a process that is cryptological and has been developed after years of research and development.

Public Key Infrastructure

The process is carried out using public key infrastructure or PKI. Please do not get carried away by these technological terms the process though uses mathematical equations is not difficult to implement by the common man. In the information technology age, no development survives if it cannot be implemented by the common man.

To understand this mechanism one need not be tech-savvy or an expert in the science of cryptography. PKI enables the creation of digital signatures which are cryptic forms of documents or messages. Hence DS is not the regular signature as we see offline it is a technological concept that makes documents and messages unreadable by the use of key pairs.

Using an algorithm or hash function the documents are made cryptic and the result is a hash value. This value is numerical and mathematically formed. These two algorithms are the most popularly used in creating the hash value. Some of the algorithms used are SH256 and MD5, but the list is long and the usage depends upon many factors. The hash value is always fixed, no matter what is the size of the document.

During hash value generation a key pair is produced. One is the private key and as the name suggest has to be kept secret for it can decipher the hash value and worst create an unauthorized hash if stolen. DSC is identity proof, and like an adhaar card or a passport should not fall into the hands of thieves. Hence the private key is kept a secret in a computer hard drive or in a USB token that is a small device like a pen drive and is password driven.

Another key that is generated is the public key, which is meant for the receiver. The public key is part of the digital certification as it arrives. This key is meant for distribution to the right people or organization. Even if the public key falls in the wrong hands during electronic transmission the best the person can do is manipulate the document or message. But then after manipulation, a different hash value is created. The hash value is never the same and when the receiver matches it using the public key he has received he or she will instantly come to know about the manipulation. But care should be taken to deliver the DSC by continuing the public key sent to the authorized person or organization.

Certified Authority or CA

DSC is a digital signature certificate that is certified by an authorized certifying authority or CA. DSC is obtained after legitimate personal documents or IDS are sent to the CA and this applies to organizations as well. To apply for DSC in Indiathe application can be sent online to the CA. It can also be sent to a CA partner along with the requisite documents. It is received in a token after five days or later. In India reputed CAs are as follows:

Dsc Bazaar Mumbai & Kolkata

eMudra

Vsign

Capricorn

There are more CAs than listed here to obtain DSC you can write to them.

A group of writers at Above the Fold Digital Marketing and Web Development Company in Mumbai India